The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne

Chapter 19

The next day, the 8th day of January, after a day and night passed at the corral, where they left all in order,
Cyrus Harding and Ayrton arrived at Granite House.

The engineer immediately called his companions together, and informed them of the imminent danger which threatened
Lincoln Island, and from which no human power could deliver them.

“My friends,” he said, and his voice betrayed the depth of his emotion, “our island is not among those which will
endure while this earth endures. It is doomed to more or less speedy destruction, the cause of which it bears within
itself, and from which nothing can save it.”

The colonists looked at each other, then at the engineer. They did not clearly comprehend him.

“Explain yourself, Cyrus!” said Gideon Spilett.

“I will do so,” replied Cyrus Harding, “or rather I will simply afford you the explanation which, during our few
minutes of private conversation, was given me by Captain Nemo.”

“Captain Nemo!” exclaimed the colonists.

“Yes, and it was the last service he desired to render us before his death!”

“The last service!” exclaimed Pencroft, “the last service! You will see that though he is dead he will render us
others yet!”

“But what did the captain say?” inquired the reporter.

“I will tell you, my friends,” said the engineer. “Lincoln Island does not resemble the other islands of the
Pacific, and a fact of which Captain Nemo has made me cognizant must sooner or later bring about the subversion of its
foundation.”

“Nonsense! Lincoln Island, it can’t be!” cried Pencroft, who, in spite of the respect he felt for Cyrus Harding,
could not prevent a gesture of incredulity.

“Listen, Pencroft,” resumed the engineer, “I will tell you what Captain Nemo communicated to me, and which I myself
confirmed yesterday, during the exploration of Dakkar Grotto.

“This cavern stretches under the island as far as the volcano, and is only separated from its central shaft by the
wall which terminates it. Now, this wall is seamed with fissures and clefts which already allow the sulphurous gases
generated in the interior of the volcano to escape.”

“Well?” said Pencroft, his brow suddenly contracting.

“Well, then, I saw that these fissures widen under the internal pressure from within, that the wall of basalt is
gradually giving way and that after a longer or shorter period it will afford a passage to the waters of the lake which
fill the cavern.”

“Good!” replied Pencroft, with an attempt at pleasantry. “The sea will extinguish the volcano, and there will be an
end of the matter!”

“Not so!” said Cyrus Harding, “should a day arrive when the sea, rushing through the wall of the cavern, penetrates
by the central shaft into the interior of the island to the boiling lava, Lincoln Island will that day be blown into
the air — just as would happen to the island of Sicily were the Mediterranean to precipitate itself into Mount
Etna.”

The colonists made no answer to these significant words of the engineer. They now understood the danger by which
they were menaced.

It may be added that Cyrus Harding had in no way exaggerated the danger to be apprehended. Many persons have formed
an idea that it would be possible to extinguish volcanoes, which are almost always situated on the shores of a sea or
lake, by opening a passage for the admission of the water. But they are not aware that this would be to incur the risk
of blowing up a portion of the globe, like a boiler whose steam is suddenly expanded by intense heat. The water,
rushing into a cavity whose temperature might be estimated at thousands of degrees, would be converted into steam with
a sudden energy which no enclosure could resist.

It was not therefore doubtful that the island, menaced by a frightful and approaching convulsion, would endure only
so long as the wall of Dakkar Grotto itself should endure. It was not even a question of months, nor of weeks, but of
days; it might be of hours.

The first sentiment which the colonists felt was that of profound sorrow. They thought not so much of the peril
which menaced themselves personally, but of the destruction of the island which had sheltered them, which they had
cultivated, which they loved so well, and had hoped to render so flourishing. So much effort ineffectually expended, so
much labor lost.

Pencroft could not prevent a large tear from rolling down his cheek, nor did he attempt to conceal it.

Some further conversation now took place. The chances yet in favor of the colonists were discussed; but finally it
was agreed that there was not an hour to be lost, that the building and fitting of the vessel should be pushed forward
with their utmost energy, and that this was the sole chance of safety for the inhabitants of Lincoln Island.

All hands, therefore, set to work on the vessel. What could it avail to sow, to reap, to hunt, to increase the
stores of Granite House? The contents of the storehouse and outbuildings contained more than sufficient to provide the
ship for a voyage, however long might be its duration. But it was imperative that the ship should be ready to receive
them before the inevitable catastrophe should arrive.

Their labors were now carried on with feverish ardor. By the 23rd of January the vessel was half-decked over. Up to
this time no change had taken place on the summit of the volcano. Vapor and smoke mingled with flames and incandescent
stones were thrown up from the crater. But during the night of the 23rd, in consequence of the lava attaining the level
of the first stratum of the volcano, the hat-shaped cone which formed over the latter disappeared. A frightful sound
was heard. The colonists at first thought the island was rent asunder, and rushed out of Granite House.

This occurred about two o’clock in the morning.

The sky appeared on fire. The superior cone, a mass of rock a thousand feet in height, and weighing thousands of
millions of pounds, had been thrown down upon the island, making it tremble to its foundation. Fortunately, this cone
inclined to the north, and had fallen upon the plain of sand and tufa stretching between the volcano and the sea. The
aperture of the crater being thus enlarged projected towards the sky a glare so intense that by the simple effect of
reflection the atmosphere appeared red-hot. At the same time a torrent of lava, bursting from the new summit, poured
out in long cascades, like water escaping from a vase too full, and a thousand tongues of fire crept over the sides of
the volcano.

“The corral! the corral!” exclaimed Ayrton.

It was, in fact, towards the corral that the lava was rushing as the new crater faced the east, and consequently the
fertile portions of the island, the springs of Red Creek and Jacamar Wood, were menaced with instant destruction.

At Ayrton’s cry the colonists rushed to the onagers’ stables. The cart was at once harnessed. All were possessed by
the same thought — to hasten to the corral and set at liberty the animals it enclosed.

Before three in the morning they arrived at the corral. The cries of the terrified musmons and goats indicated the
alarm which possessed them. Already a torrent of burning matter and liquefied minerals fell from the side of the
mountain upon the meadows as far as the side of the palisade. The gate was burst open by Ayrton, and the animals,
bewildered with terror, fled in all directions.

An hour afterwards the boiling lava filled the corral, converting into vapor the water of the little rivulet which
ran through it, burning up the house like dry grass, and leaving not even a post of the palisade to mark the spot where
the corral once stood.

To contend against this disaster would have been folly — nay, madness. In presence of Nature’s grand convulsions man
is powerless.

It was now daylight — the 24th of January. Cyrus Harding and his companions, before returning to Granite House,
desired to ascertain the probable direction this inundation of lava was about to take. The soil sloped gradually from
Mount Franklin to the east coast, and it was to be feared that, in spite of the thick Jacamar Wood, the torrent would
reach the plateau of Prospect Heights.

“The lake will cover us,” said Gideon Spilett.

“I hope so!” was Cyrus Harding’s only reply.

The colonists were desirous of reaching the plain upon which the superior cone of Mount Franklin had fallen, but the
lava arrested their progress. It had followed, on one side, the valley of Red Creek, and on the other that of Falls
River, evaporating those watercourses in its passage. There was no possibility of crossing the torrent of lava; on the
contrary, the colonists were obliged to retreat before it. The volcano, without its crown, was no longer recognizable,
terminated as it was by a sort of flat table which replaced the ancient crater. From two openings in its southern and
eastern sides an unceasing flow of lava poured forth, thus forming two distinct streams. Above the new crater a cloud
of smoke and ashes, mingled with those of the atmosphere, massed over the island. Loud peals of thunder broke, and
could scarcely be distinguished from the rumblings of the mountain, whose mouth vomited forth ignited rocks, which,
hurled to more than a thousand feet, burst in the air like shells. Flashes of lightning rivaled in intensity the
volcano’s eruption.

Towards seven in the morning the position was no longer tenable by the colonists, who accordingly took shelter in
the borders of Jacamar Wood. Not only did the projectiles begin to rain around them, but the lava, overflowing the bed
of Red Creek, threatened to cut off the road to the corral. The nearest rows of trees caught fire, and their sap,
suddenly transformed into vapor, caused them to explode with loud reports, while others, less moist, remained unhurt in
the midst of the inundation.

The colonists had again taken the road to the corral. They proceeded but slowly, frequently looking back; but, in
consequence of the inclination of the soil, the lava gained rapidly in the east, and as its lower waves became
solidified others, at boiling heat, covered them immediately.

Meanwhile, the principal stream of Red Creek Valley became more and more menacing. All this portion of the forest
was on fare, and enormous wreaths of smoke rolled over the trees, whore trunks were already consumed by the lava.

The colonists halted near the lake, about half a mile from the mouth of Red Creek. A question of life or death was
now to be decided.

Cyrus Harding, accustomed to the consideration of important crises, and aware that he was addressing men capable of
hearing the truth, whatever it might be, then said, —

“Either the lake will arrest the progress of the lava, and a part of the island will be preserved from utter
destruction, or the stream will overrun the forests of the Far West, and not a tree or plant will remain on the surface
of the soil. We shall have no prospect but that of starvation upon these barren rocks — a death which will probably be
anticipated by the explosion of the island.”

“In that case,” replied Pencroft, folding his arms and stamping his foot, “what’s the use of working any longer on
the vessel?”

“Pencroft,” answered Cyrus Harding, “we must do our duty to the last!”

At this instant the river of lava, after having broken a passage through the noble trees it devoured in its course,
reached the borders of the lake. At this point there was an elevation of the soil which, had it been greater, might
have sufficed to arrest the torrent.

“To work!” cried Cyrus Harding.

The engineer’s thought was at once understood. it might be possible to dam, as it were, the torrent, and thus compel
it to pour itself into the lake.

The colonists hastened to the dockyard. They returned with shovels, picks, axes, and by means of banking the earth
with the aid of fallen trees they succeeded in a few hours in raising an embankment three feet high and some hundreds
of paces in length. It seemed to them, when they had finished, as if they had scarcely been working more than a few
minutes.

It was not a moment too soon. The liquefied substances soon after reached the bottom of the barrier. The stream of
lava swelled like a river about to overflow its banks, and threatened to demolish the sole obstacle which could prevent
it from overrunning the whole Far West. But the dam held firm, and after a moment of terrible suspense the torrent
precipitated itself into Grant Lake from a height of twenty feet.

The colonists, without moving or uttering a word, breathlessly regarded this strife of the two elements.

What a spectacle was this conflict between water and fire! What pen could describe the marvelous horror of this
scene — what pencil could depict it? The water hissed as it evaporated by contact with the boiling lava. The vapor
whirled in the air to an immeasurable height, as if the valves of an immense boiler had been suddenly opened. But,
however considerable might be the volume of water contained in the lake, it must eventually be absorbed, because it was
not replenished, while the stream of lava, fed from an inexhaustible source, rolled on without ceasing new waves of
incandescent matter.

The first waves of lava which fell in the lake immediately solidified and accumulated so as speedily to emerge from
it. Upon their surface fell other waves, which in their turn became stone, but a step nearer the center of the lake. In
this manner was formed a pier which threatened to gradually fill up the lake, which could not overflow, the water
displaced by the lava being evaporated. The hissing of the water rent the air with a deafening sound, and the vapor,
blown by the wind, fell in rain upon the sea. The pier became longer and longer, and the blocks of lava piled
themselves one on another. Where formerly stretched the calm waters of the lake now appeared an enormous mass of
smoking rocks, as if an upheaving of the soil had formed immense shoals. Imagine the waters of the lake aroused by a
hurricane, then suddenly solidified by an intense frost, and some conception may be formed of the aspect of the lake
three hours alter the eruption of this irresistible torrent of lava.

This time water would be vanquished by fire.

Nevertheless it was a fortunate circumstance for the colonists that the effusion of lava should have been in the
direction of Lake Grant. They had before them some days’ respite. The plateau of Prospect Heights, Granite House, and
the dockyard were for the moment preserved. And these few days it was necessary to employ in planking and carefully
calking the vessel, and launching her. The colonists would then take refuge on board the vessel, content to rig her
after she should be afloat on the waters. With the danger of an explosion which threatened to destroy the island there
could be no security on shore. The walls of Granite House, once so sure a retreat, might at any moment fall in upon
them.

During the six following days, from the 25th to the 30th of January, the colonists accomplished as much of the
construction of their vessel as twenty men could have done. They hardly allowed themselves a moment’s repose, and the
glare of the flames which shot from the crater enabled them to work night and day. The flow of lava continued, but
perhaps less abundantly. This was fortunate, for Lake Grant was almost entirely choked up, and if more lava should
accumulate it would inevitably spread over the plateau of Prospect Heights, and thence upon the beach.

But if the island was thus partially protected on this side, it was not so with the western part.

In fact, the second stream of lava, which had followed the valley of Falls River, a valley of great extent, the land
on both sides of the creek being flat, met with no obstacle. The burning liquid had then spread through the forest of
the Far West. At this period of the year, when the trees were dried up by a tropical heat, the forest caught fire
instantaneously, in such a manner that the conflagration extended itself both by the trunks of the trees and by their
higher branches, whose interlacement favored its progress. It even appeared that the current of flame spread more
rapidly among the summits of the trees than the current of lava at their bases.

Thus it happened that the wild animals, jaguars, wild boars, capybaras, koalas, and game of every kind, mad with
terror, had fled to the banks of the Mercy and to the Tadorn Marsh, beyond the road to Port Balloon. But the colonists
were too much occupied with their task to pay any attention to even the most formidable of these animals. They had
abandoned Granite House, and would not even take shelter at the Chimneys, but encamped under a tent, near the mouth of
the Mercy.

Each day Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett ascended the plateau of Prospect Heights. Sometimes Herbert accompanied
them, but never Pencroft, who could not bear to look upon the prospect of the island now so utterly devastated.

It was, in truth, a heart-rending spectacle. All the wooded part of the island was now completely bare. One single
clump of green trees raised their heads at the extremity of Serpentine Peninsula. Here and there were a few grotesque
blackened and branchless stumps. The side of the devastated forest was even more barren than Tadorn Marsh. The eruption
of lava had been complete. Where formerly sprang up that charming verdure, the soil was now nothing but a savage mass
of volcanic tufa. In the valleys of the Falls and Mercy rivers no drop of water now flowed towards the sea, and should
Lake Grant be entirely dried up, the colonists would have no means of quenching their thirst. But, fortunately the lava
had spared the southern corner of the lake, containing all that remained of the drinking water of the island. Towards
the northwest stood out the rugged and well-defined outlines of the sides of the volcano, like a gigantic claw hovering
over the island. What a sad and fearful sight, and how painful to the colonists, who, from a fertile domain covered
with forests, irrigated by watercourses, and enriched by the produce of their toils, found themselves, as it were,
transported to a desolate rock, upon which, but for their reserves of provisions, they could not even gather the means
of subsistence!

“It is enough to break one’s heart!” said Gideon Spilett, one day.

“Yes, Spilett,” answered the engineer. “May God grant us the time to complete this vessel, now our sole refuge!”

“Do not you think, Cyrus, that the violence of the eruption has somewhat lessened? The volcano still vomits forth
lava, but somewhat less abundantly, if I mistake not.”

“It matters little,” answered Cyrus Harding. “The fire is still burning in the interior of the mountain, and the sea
may break in at any moment. We are in the condition of passengers whose ship is devoured by a conflagration which they
cannot extinguish, and who know that sooner or later the flames must reach the powder-magazine. To work, Spilett, to
work, and let us not lose an hour!”

During eight days more, that is to say until the 7th of February, the lava continued to flow, but the eruption was
confined within the previous limits. Cyrus Harding feared above all lest the liquefied matter should overflow the
shore, for in that event the dockyard could not escape. Moreover, about this time the colonists felt in the frame of
the island vibrations which alarmed them to the highest degree.

It was the 20th of February. Yet another month must elapse before the vessel would be ready for sea. Would the
island hold together till then? The intention of Pencroft and Cyrus Harding was to launch the vessel as soon as the
hull should be complete. The deck, the upperworks, the interior woodwork and the rigging might be finished afterwards,
but the essential point was that the colonists should have an assured refuge away from the island. Perhaps it might be
even better to conduct the vessel to Port Balloon, that is to say, as far as possible from the center of eruption, for
at the mouth of the Mercy, between the islet and the wall of granite, it would run the risk of being crushed in the
event of any convulsion. All the exertions of the voyagers were therefore concentrated upon the completion of the
hull.

Thus the 3rd of March arrived, and they might calculate upon launching the vessel in ten days.

Hope revived in the hearts of the colonists, who had, in this fourth year of their sojourn on Lincoln island,
suffered so many trials. Even Pencroft lost in some measure the somber taciturnity occasioned by the devastation and
ruin of his domain. His hopes, it is true, were concentrated upon his vessel.

“We shall finish it,” he said to the engineer, “we shall finish it, captain, and it is time, for the season is
advancing and the equinox will soon be here. Well, if necessary, we must put in to Tabor island to spend the winter.
But think of Tabor island after Lincoln Island. Ah, how unfortunate! Who could have believed it possible?”

“Let us get on,” was the engineer’s invariable reply.

And they worked away without losing a moment.

“Master,” asked Neb, a few days later, “do you think all this could have happened if Captain Nemo had been still
alive?”

“Certainly, Neb,” answered Cyrus Harding.

“I, for one, don’t believe it!” whispered Pencroft to Neb.

“Nor I!” answered Neb seriously.

During the first week of March appearances again became menacing. Thousands of threads like glass, formed of fluid
lava, fell like rain upon the island. The crater was again boiling with lava which overflowed the back of the volcano.
The torrent flowed along the surface of the hardened tufa, and destroyed the few meager skeletons of trees which had
withstood the first eruption. The stream, flowing this time towards the southwest shore of Lake Grant, stretched beyond
Creek Glycerine, and invaded the plateau of Prospect Heights. This last blow to the work of the colonists was terrible.
The mill, the buildings of the inner court, the stables, were all destroyed. The affrighted poultry fled in all
directions. Top and Jup showed signs of the greatest alarm, as if their instinct warned them of an impending
catastrophe. A large number of the animals of the island had perished in the first eruption. Those which survived found
no refuge but Tadorn Marsh, save a few to which the plateau of Prospect Heights afforded asylum. But even this last
retreat was now closed to them, and the lava- torrent, flowing over the edge of the granite wall, began to pour down
upon the beach its cataracts of fire. The sublime horror of this spectacle passed all description. During the night it
could only be compared to a Niagara of molten fluid, with its incandescent vapors above and its boiling masses
below.

The colonists were driven to their last entrenchment, and although the upper seams of the vessel were not yet
calked, they decided to launch her at once.

Pencroft and Ayrton therefore set about the necessary preparations for the launching, which was to take place the
morning of the next day, the 9th of March.

But during the night of the 8th an enormous column of vapor escaping from the crater rose with frightful explosions
to a height of more than three thousand feet. The wall of Dakkar Grotto had evidently given way under the pressure of
gases, and the sea, rushing through the central shalt into the igneous gulf, was at once converted into vapor. But the
crater could not afford a sufficient outlet for this vapor. An explosion, which might have been heard at a distance of
a hundred miles, shook the air. Fragments of mountains fell into the Pacific, and, in a few minutes, the ocean rolled
over the spot where Lincoln island once stood.